DAPHNE, Ala.—A series of personnel issues—including perceived unwarranted police investigations and exhaustive employee grievance hearings—is the reason for the City Council’s relinquishing of Mayor Fred Small’s department-head hiring and …
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DAPHNE, Ala.—A series of personnel issues—including perceived unwarranted police investigations and exhaustive employee grievance hearings—is the reason for the City Council’s relinquishing of Mayor Fred Small’s department-head hiring and firing responsibilities, according to a letter written Sunday by Councilwoman Cathy Barnette.
In the letter, sent to all on her District 2 mailing list, fellow city leaders, the mayor and media, Barnette writes, “Personnel issues in the city of Daphne have been a problem for the last four years and is the primary driver behind the passage of Ordinance 2009-32.”
Barnette said she received several inquiries about the ordinance and felt an explanation of the council’s actions was necessary.
The timeline
“My point throughout the letter was to show that there were a string of events which led to this action,” Barnette said.
The chain begins shortly after Small was elected to his first term in 2004, when he asked the council to restore the mayor’s authority to hire and fire department heads.
The power had been stripped in prior years after a police investigation resulted in two indictments of city workers that spurred the firing or resignation of other employees, Council President John Lake, a long-time council member, said. City leaders had taken back the authority because it wanted to be more involved in the decision-making process.
“While there were concerns expressed at the time, the motion passed and the authority was restored to the mayor,” Barnette said.
<Second thoughts
The “undesired departure” of former Public Works director Ken Eslava in 2006 prompted the council to consider transferring hiring authority once again when it came to agenda in the spring, according to Barnette’s letter.
“Mayor Small requested the council show an effort of good faith,” she said. “The council honored the request and the motion was removed from the agenda.”
<Staff shortage
The Public Works director position was not filled until Small reassigned Director of Community Development Bill Eady to the position in October 2008.
“Emphasis should be placed on the fact that the Public Works Department went without a director for such a long period of time—two years—because of the mayor’s refusal to appoint one, despite this being asked of him by the council in open meetings on several occasions,” Councilman August Palumbo said.
“As a direct result of having no leadership in that department for such a long time, the (Public Works) employees have come to council meetings with union organizers proclaiming low morale and blasting the mayor’s treatment of employees,” he said.
At one point, the Public Works department’s employees and union reps felt Small had offended and verbally abused them during a stalled negotiation; the representatives considered filing charges against the mayor but have not done so.
Small in past interviews with the Daphne Bulletin has denied union organizers’ allegations of mistreatment.
A handful of the union reps still regularly attend City Council meetings.
<Abuse of powers?
When Daphne Civic Center director Sandra Morse last October filed an employee grievance, the council hired an independent investigator to evaluate the case and recommend a course of action, including conducting training and team-building exercises.
Shortly after the completion of the grievance hearing, Small requested that Daphne police investigate Civic Center employees.
Barnette contended that both police Chief David Carpenter and Capt. Daniel Bell informed Small that allegations against the employees were “an administrative issue and not a criminal investigation.
“Nevertheless,” she said, “the mayor ordered an investigation.”
Police were consumed with investigating the homicide of 21-year-old Brianna Parish in Daphne’s first capital murder in three years. The responsibility of investigating the Civic Center allegations fell to Bell, who logged 96 man hours on the case, according to Barnette.
Small defended the investigation.
“I would not have called for an investigation from the police department if I didn’t feel it was necessary,” he said. “It had to be investigated. It was something that I couldn’t overlook.”
<Lack of leaders
The council appropriated funds for assigned training and team-building exercises in January; Small, Morse and former Human Resources director Sharon Cureton were expected to participate. But in April, before administrators could progress in exercises, Small fired Morse; Cureton resigned days later.
Morse requested a second employee grievance hearing, in which the council spent eight consecutive Wednesdays hearing evidence and testimonies, ultimately deciding to uphold Small’s recommendation of termination.
<Hiring freeze
On June 1, the council placed a freeze on hiring department heads.
Two weeks later, the council adopted an ordinance that stripped Small of his hiring authority.
“A majority of the council felt that the city could not afford the same lack of leadership in the Human Resources department and the Civic Center when those directorships became vacant—thus passage of the ordinance placing the hiring responsibility with the council,” Palumbo said.
Small questioned the ordinance’s legitimacy, prompting an investigation by Attorney General Troy King, whose office suggested the council reaffirm the ordinance by re-adopting it at its next meeting.
On July 6, the council followed through with the attorney general’s request while Small tried to veto the ordinance. His veto failed to carry 5-2, with Councilmen Greg Burnam and Ron Scott supporting Small.
<Second round: Small added the veto item on the July 20 agenda; it failed to carry with the same vote results.
<Request denied?
On July 28, Small sent a memo to Lake outlining guidelines for the council to follow when requesting information from, or giving direction to, the mayor.
The first guideline mandates that all council requests of the mayor be written in a resolution—expressly detailing its expectations—and passed by the council allowing ample time for the mayor to respond.
In the second guideline, Small says committees should function as “a place for citizens to bring concerns,” not as an avenue for directing department heads.
The next day, Small sent a memo to Lake requesting the clerk’s office post all pending and recently adopted resolutions, ordinances and motions to the bulletin board outside City Hall. The mayor added that he’d like the items to be read at least once during council meetings.
“This will be a great communication tool for those that attend and for those that do not attend the meetings,” Small said. Currently, the only means residents have of viewing resolutions and ordinances set to be voted on is by accessing the city’s Web site, daphneal.com and downloading the council packet.
Based on recent city council meetings, Small’s request has not been granted.
A divide
While debating the ordinance’s validity in council meetings, Small repeatedly questioned why city leaders removed his hiring authority; he often expressed that he was “being punished.”
If this was the case, some city leaders suggested the punishment fit.
“I believe the mayor abused his power when he ordered the investigation of the Civic Center employees against the recommendation of our police chief,” Barnette said.
“Ms. Barnette refers to the mayor’s abuse of power by ordering a police investigation into a personnel issue even after being advised that it was not a police matter by the chief,” Palumbo said.
“This was a catalyst in passage of Ordinance 2009-32.”
Throughout Morse’s second hearing, the council expressed its concerns over Small’s handling of employee matters; thus, the mayor—despite his display of confusion at public meetings—was aware of the ordinance’s impetus, Barnette said.
Since passage of the ordinance, Small has ordered City Clerk David Cohen not to attend weekly staff meetings and has given strict orders to department heads as to how to communicate with council members outside public meetings, city leaders have contended.
“This is not the way a city should run, as the council cannot properly conduct business or prioritize funding without input from those who implement activities,” Barnette said.
Small refuted the claim that he ordered department heads to not communicate with council members.
“By no means have I closed any doors,” Small said. “In some ways, I feel like it’s the other way around. I’ve always been open to them.”
A Bulletin reporter e-mailed three department heads to confirm or deny the claim: Adrienne Jones, director of Community Development; library director Tonja Young; and finance director Kim Briley did not return requests by press deadline.
Lake said he’d like to see the disjointed communication lines repaired so the administration can function more fluidly.
“This is not an attempt to hurt the mayor in any way,” Lake said of the ordinance. “We thought if we took over hiring authority it would improve communication. What we’re trying to do is to say ‘we need to correct something here.’”
The council has no intention of overstepping its authority or usurping the mayor’s authority, Barnette said.
“This is not about personalities, politics or power,” she said, contending in her letter that past media reports suggested otherwise.
The council sets the city’s policies and procedures; the mayor implements those policies, she said in the letter.
“I believe the Daphne City Council fully understands, and supports, that the mayor is the manager of all Daphne employees,” Barnette said.
Small indicated he believed the councilwoman’s letter proved otherwise.
“I found it accusatory by picking out every event with the city employees, whether it was my fault or not,” he said of the missive. “It was very editorialized in an inflammatory way.”
